4 common mistakes healthy people make | Part 1

When I speak with my clients I often hear many common misconceptions about healthy eating habits. Here are 4 of the most common mistakes and my advice on how to overcome them.

TALL LATTES

“Lattes” have become very popular in recent years. Many have chosen “healthy” options swapping diary milk for almond or soya, but the result is almost the same: they contain lots of sugar. If you check the Starbucks website you will see that many of of their “lattes”  contain between a whopping 18 gr and 29 gr of sugar.   

What to do:

Swap for a good quality black coffee, maybe with a dash of milk if you enjoy it,  or simply drink only half of those lattes. After all who needs all those tall lattes anyways!

FRUIT JUICES

Whole fruits are rich in fibers, vitamins, minerals and phyto-nutrients. They also contain sugar, mainly fructose, which is metabolized by the liver.  During the juicing process, the fibers get broken down and removed, and as some of the nutrients are stored in the fibers, we end up with less nutrients, less fibres,and more sugar. This is why fruit juice should be consumed in moderation. 

What to do:

Try adding vegetables to your fresh juices to reduce the amount of sugar, use lower sugar content fruits ( like berries or apples),  reduce the amount of juice you drink or make 1/2 part juice, 1/2 part water.

FLAVOURED YOGURT

Rich in good bacteria, calcium, and pre-digested lactose ( the milk’s sugar), yogurt is full of health benefits. But those deliciously vanilla, or fruits flavored yogurt ( even worst if they are fat-free) often contain 13 gr of sugar. If you think that when you buy a big pot, you often eat 200/250 gr of yogurt, that means a whopping 26-30 gr of sugar per portion. The same of a packet of cookies! 

What to do:

Buy some good quality full-fat natural yogurt and add your own flavorings. Berries are great, as they are low in sugar and nutrients rich, but also another type of low-sugar fruit (an apple, plum or orange for example), or a small amounts of nuts. If you really have a sweet craving a serving of natural yogurt with a few drops of organic maple syrup or honey, can still be a better way to satisfy it!

BREAKFAST CEREALS

On a recent trip to Wholefoods I found out with dismay, that many of them yes, even those super-expensive, organic & super-healthy breakfast cereals and muesli,  have one thing in common: sugar.  For the majority of them, the percentage of sugar was between 12-18% with a peak of 25% in some more fancy ones. That would be already a considerable amount per se, but if we consider that we normally consume them with milk ( either diary or not, it still contain sugar) and added fruits, you can easily understand how much sugar you can pile up. 

What tot do:

Always read the nutritional label at the back of the package and go for low-sugar cereals.

How to spot hidden sugar in food:

Hidden sugar is difficult to spot, even if you read the food labels. Did you know that there are 60 alternative names for sugar? Download our handy guide to 38 of them.

Creating healthy eating habits is easier than you think. With our food swaps and meals rebalancing it is easier to get back on track, with no deprivation and maintaining the pleasure of a good mea

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